Velvet was the Night: President Obama's Summer Reading List 2022 pick

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Leonora doesn't return. And things in Mexico City are about to boil over into a political nightmare with Maite, of all people, somehow at the center of the story.

An absolute flex . . . [ Velvet Was the Night] left memarvelingat what kind of sorceress Moreno-Garcia must be as she reworks genre after genre, weaving in Mexican history and culture, satisfying familiar cravings without resorting to mere pastiche. The most tantalizing suspense of all comes withwondering what she’ll do next.” — SlateAfter being introduced to Silvia Moreno-Garcia's work through her much-loved title Mexican Gothic, I found that I loved her writing style, the depth that her writing gives to the characters and her ability to produce twists and turns throughout her well-thought-out and unique novels. Velvet Was the Night is no exception to this. Velvet Was the Night was a different kind of Moreno-Garcia read, however, and I'm still chewing on the why. For one thing, it took Moreno-Garcia's already slowwww pacing and dialed it down even further. Which I didn't know was possible. Let's be honest: I struggled with the slowness of the pacing for the first half of the book because it was just that—tooooooo slowwwwww. I normally enjoyed the author’s paranormal thrillers more but she meticulously succeeded to form a good story and showed us she could perfectly write in different genres.

Swirling in parallel trajectories, Maite and Elvis attempt to discover the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, encountering hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies. Because Mexico in the 1970s is a noir, where life is cheap and the price of truth is high. Everyone is looking for Leonora, including a paramilitary group, and other unsavory thugs. Maite is caught up in the unfortunate events. Elvis is a member of The Hawks. The Hawks were a government-trained paramilitary group. Elvis was an intriguing character. He grappled with using violence and cared about how others perceived him.The characters didn't even met till the very end of the book.The romance angle wasn't good as well. It was boring. Swirling in parallel trajectories, Maite and Elvis attempt to discover the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, encountering hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies. Because Mexico in the 1970s is a noir where life is cheap and the price of truth is high. Anyway, I didn't connect with the characters and I didn't care for their dilemma. I felt like I was watching the story but I was never involved or drawn in. I didn't like Maite, the main character. There was so much bloodshed in her country and all she cared about was not being a 30 year-old spinster and finding her true love but no one was ever good enough to meet her standards. I felt bored more than interested which is a shame.